Lincoln Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez says due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases the Risk Dial was moved into the red category on Tuesday, meaning the risk of spread of the virus is severe.
“A combination of people letting down their guard, holiday gatherings and the arrival of the Omicron variant are causing this jump,” Lopez says.
Lopez says in the past week the daily average of cases went from 128 to 218 per day. She says the data shows many cases are mild, but are spreading fast.
She says the average number of local hospitalizations jumped from 112 on December 24 to 121 on January 1. She says the majority of those hospitalized are not vaccinated.
Three deaths reported on Tuesday, a man in his 50’s and two women their 70’s.